Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 13, Verse 21
पुरुषः प्रकृतिस्थो हि भुङ्क्ते प्रकृतिजान्गुणान्।कारणं गुणसङ्गोऽस्य सदसद्योनिजन्मसु।।
puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ’sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu
also searched as "purushah prakriti-stho hi bhunkte prakriti-jan gunan"
Translation
(a) Indeed, the self seated in Prakrti experiences the Gunas born of Prakrti.
(b) Its attachment to these Gunas is the cause of birth in good and evil wombs.
Vāṇi's rendering
Seated in nature, the person tastes nature's moods. Clinging to them decides its births — high or low.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| पुरुषःpuruṣaḥ | the person; the one who dwells within |
| प्रकृतिस्थःprakṛti-sthaḥ | seated in nature, settled inside her workings (appears as prakṛti-stho by sandhi before hi) |
| हिhi | indeed, for this reason |
| भुङ्क्तेbhuṅkte | tastes, undergoes, feeds on |
| प्रकृतिजान्prakṛti-jān | born of nature |
| गुणान्guṇān | the moods — clarity, heat, fog |
| कारणम्kāraṇam | the cause |
| गुणसङ्गःguṇa-saṅgaḥ | clinging to those moods (appears as guṇa-saṅgo before asya) |
| अस्यasya | of this one (the elided a- shown by the apostrophe) |
| सदसद्योनिजन्मसुsad-asad-yoni-janmasu | in births from wombs high and low, good and bad |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 Verse 21 mean?
It says the one within, once settled inside nature, tastes everything nature produces — the bright moods, the restless ones, the dull ones. And it names the hinge: not the tasting but the clinging. Attachment to those moods is what decides the shape of the births that follow, high or low.
What does purushah prakriti-stho hi bhunkte prakriti-jan gunan teach?
That you are seated in nature, not made of her. The moods arrive as her produce; you experience them. The verse's whole weight falls on saṅga — the holding on. Loosen that, and the same moods still come and go, but they no longer decide where you are carried next.
Does this verse mean my birth is a punishment for past attachments?
Krishna speaks of cause, not sentence. No one is judging and assigning. Clinging has a direction the way water has a slope; it simply goes somewhere. That is why the teaching is practical rather than fearful — the grip is yours, and a grip can be opened.
How do I stop clinging to the gunas in ordinary life?
Not by refusing to feel. Let the mood arrive and be tasted, and then notice the second movement — the wanting it to stay, or the fighting to be rid of it. That second movement is saṅga. Seeing it clearly, again and again, is already the loosening.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Nature has moods, and you are sitting inside them. Sattva's clarity, rajas' heat, tamas' fog — they rise and pass through, and the one seated there tastes each as if it were his own weather. Tasting is not the problem. Krishna names the cause precisely: saṅga, the clinging — the moment tasting becomes holding on. That grip is what shapes what comes next, the high womb or the low. Arjuna wants to know why lives differ so wildly. The answer is not a verdict handed down from outside. It is what you reached for and would not put down. Watch what your hand closes on.